Machine for sewing and trimming fabrics



(Model.)

J. BIGELOW.v Y MACHINE IOR SEWING ANDv TIIIMI/IING FABRICS.

No. 244,530. Patented J-u1y'19, 1881.

N. FEYERS. Mmmm www, ILC

UNITED STATES JOHN BIe'ELoW, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PATENT OFFICE.

MACHINE FoR sEwrNG AND TRlMMlNIG FABRICS.

v-'SiPECIFICACIION forming part of Letters Pate-ntNo. 244539, dated July 19, 18.81. Application tiled September 29, 1F80. (Model.)

the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being'had. to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or iigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings similar let-V ters of reference indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a top view, showing the combination, with the cloth-plate of a sewing-machine, ot a swinging tongued presser-foot, with mechanism for actuating the same, and a trimming device; also their relationto the needle and the feed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, showing the swinging tonguedpresser-foot and its connection with its actuating device, also a trimming device, feed, needle, and the threadlooping device of a sewing-machine.

The object of the present invention isto produce a combination of mechanism adapted, among other things, to make the cut hose,77

patented in Reissue Letters Patent No. 9,1135,

dated March 9, 1880. I produce the zigzag or irregular stitch therein required by means of a tongue attached tol or forming part of the presser-foot, and so arranged that by swinging or vibratin g the presser-foot the tongue is moved with it. The needle is thus enabled to make its stitch, alternately, first on one, then on the other, side of said tongue, which is tapered, so that as the material ismoved along by the feed the stitch made over it easily slides off, yet is retained long enough to cause the material to follow its vibrations and be presented to the needle in a way which will make the line of sewing zigzag or irregular. I add to this zigzag-sewing mechanism the trimming device shown and described in my previous applications, and the combination will produce the cut-hosiery seam, patented as aforesaid.

For the purpose of illustration I have shown my device applied to a Willcox & Gibbs'sewin g-machne. It consists of a tongued presserfoot, (swinging on the presserbar,) which is positively actuated by means of levers and a cam geaied Vto the driving-shaft of the machine.

At the end D2 of the presser-bar D3, Fig. 2,

I attach the presser-foot D by any suitable device whicb will allow it to conform to the raising and lowering of the bar D3, and yet be free to make a laterally swinging or vibrating movement. At the point C, Figs. 1 and 2, forward of the swinging point D2, by means of a pin, the presser-footD is connected with a bar, B, which, in turn,is attached at A', Fig. 1, by a swinging joint to the bar A, which, by means of gearing and a cam, is reciprocated, when the feed is in action, in a direction alternately to the right and the left of the line of the same. The connection of the bar B with the presserfoot I) at C is suitably arranged to allow the foot to be raised and lowered, as is required for putting in or removing material from the machine.

At the point D', Fig. 1, of the presser-foot D, I attach a tongue projecting beyond and v behind the needle, with a clearance for the needle on either of its sides, and so shaped that the stitches formed over it can be easily drawn off as the material is fed along beneath A.it,.lyet be retained long enough to oblige the material beneath it and secured to it by the stitch to conform to .the alternate vibrations which it receives from the presser-foot D through the rod B, bar A, and its connections, as described. f

v' lhe trimming device is similar to that described by me in other pending applications, filed August 19, 1880, and having serial numbers 15,651 and 15,669; but its combination w ith the ton gued swinging or vibratin gpresserfoot as described is, I believe, new.

The material is placed beneath the presserfoot the same as in the ordinary machine, there being no change in the needle or the feed. The irst stitch is made on one side of they tongue D. When the needle has lett the work and thefeed is taking place the tongue D is moved laterally toward the side ,on which the stitch was made. Assisted by the threads of the stitch the material beneath it is sutciently moved laterally by the tongue to allow the needle to perforate it back of and to one side of its previous perforation. At the next stitch the material is carried by the tongue and thread back to its original line ot' sewin". In this \vay,`by successive lateral movements alternately to the right and left of the material carried by the tongue, the line of sewing is made zigzag. As soon as the stitches made over and across the tongue D leave the same, the forward movement of the material by the feed becomes straight. At this point it passes into the trimming device, which is adjusted near to or away from the line-opening, the surplus material is trimmed olf, and the seam described in said Reissue Letters Patent is made.

Instead otl the presser-foot being attached to and swinging on the presser-bar, it can be reciprocated in a manner` shown in my Letters Patent Reissue No. 9,112, March 9, 1880.

Since the vibrations ofthe presser-foot, when driven at a high speed, has a tendency to dazzle the vision ofthe operator, a shield can be added which will hide its movements, yet notinterfere with the guidance ofthe Work.

In the trimming device I introduce a linkconnection, as shown at T, Fig. 2, with the feed mechanism, as an improvement over the connection previously shown.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A swinging or vibrating presser-foot, having a tongue, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination, with the stitch-forming mechanism of a sewing-machine, of a swinging or vibrating tongued presser-foot, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination, with the stitch-forming mechanism ot' a sewing-machine, of a swinging or vibrating tongued presser-foot and a trimming device, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I atix my signature in presence ol' two witnesses.

JOHN BiGELow.

Witnesses J AMES GnnnNWooD, A. J. WHITTIER. 

